Nintendo just revealed a lot of details about the Wii U hardware. They pretty much showcased all of the internal components, giving us a glimpse at the mainboard, the CPU, the cooling solution, and more. It was all unveiled in a new episode of “Iwata Asks”, which for the first time dealt with Wii U hardware. While the hardware components were revealed, there was no mention of technical specs.
Iwata asked a series of questions about the hardware, components, and design to Nintendo’s hardware designers and engineers, and they revealed a lot of details about the console. Including that Nintendo even toyed with the idea of making the Wii U a square console like the GameCube.
For example, it’s revealed that Nintendo started the Wii U design in April of 2009, and worked with teams from IBM, AMD, and Renesas (a Japanese electronics manufacturer). The main Wii U chip includes both the CPU and the GPU in the same package, to improve latency and to lower costs.
The chip is very power-efficient, despite having a multi-core CPU and advanced graphics. In fact, it only needs a small fan and heat sink to be cooled (as the photos below show). Nintendo still says that the chip generates three times more heat than the Wii CPU. You can find a gallery of the hardware below:
Check out the full Q&A session at Iwata Asks.
